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morinokunikara · 5 years ago

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Altschmerz w/ mishima mayhaps owo

Altschmerz: Weariness with the same old issues that you’ve always had – the same boring flaws and anxieties that you’ve been gnawing on for years.

IM SORRY THIS TOOK A WHOLEASS MONTH TO RESPOND TO LIFE HAS BEEN HELL AND IVE ONLY RECENTLY GOTTEN THE MOTIVATION TO WRITE DAILY

Anyways I wrote this in my idol school au so enjoy!!!

“One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.”

The cheerful music and Yuuki’s muttered counts echoed through the large, otherwise empty practice room, each step landing softly as he followed the routine he had practiced again and again.

“One, two, three, four. One, two, three four.”

Right, left, spin, hop. Step, step, skip, hop. Cross, right, lef- Shit!

His rhythm was cut off as he tripped over his own legs, and his body met the wood flooring with a thud. “Ugh...damnit.” He crawled to the large speaker next to him and shut it off. The room went silent and he rested against the mirrored wall. Why can’t I get this right? Everyone else has already moved forward... He brought his knees to his chest with a sigh, and mentally went over the routine again.

Step, step, skip, hop. Cross, right, left, step.

It was that left step that got him. Every time, he’d stumble or fall over completely. The rest of his group had it. He was holding them back. If he didn’t figure it out, they wouldn’t pass this audition at all. He’d disappoint everyone. He had to keep trying, for their sake. He pulled himself back up and restarted the music track.

“One, two, three, four.”

Cross, right, left, st-

Thud.

“Damnit!” The fall was particularly painful compared to others. His left ankle twisted as he went to the ground, and he whined as he rubbed the hurt leg.

“That was quite the fall,” A gentle voice came from the other end of the room. The tall, slender figure walked over to Yuuki, kneeling next to him. “Oh...hey, Kitagawa...” Yuuki stopped tending to his leg and looked away. To be caught like this in front of a classmate, especially in front of someone as elegant and handsome as Yusuke Kitagawa. He was one of the best students in his class, and already fairly well known in the idol world. His beauty, his artistic eye, even his frequently eccentric behavior gained him a large fan following. And he just saw Yuuki crash and burn like some kind of newbie.

“Sorry to interrupt, I just believe I forgot my water bottle here.” Kitagawa walked to Yuuki’s side. “You aren’t too hurt, are you? Can you move your leg?” He asked. “Is it alright if I touch it? I just want to make sure it isn’t swollen or anything of the sort.”

Yuuki nodded slowly. He could only hope it wasn't so bad that he wouldn't be able to dance... He watched as his classmate pushed up his left pant leg and looked carefully at the injury. Kitagawa moved it a bit, and Yuuki winced slightly. "Did that hurt?"

"A little..." Yuuki's anxieties grew. Would he be able to dance in time for the next audition?

Kitagawa hummed thoughtfully. "Can you get up and walk around for a little bit?" Yuuki nodded and pulled himself up. He winced at the first few steps, but soon was able to walk through the pain with nothing more than a slight limp.

"I don't believe it's broken," Kitagawa said as he watched. "However, we may need to take you the the infirmary just in ca-"

"No!" Yuuki snapped. He shrunk back when he noticed Kitagawa's startled expression. "Sorry I just- I can't risk having to stop practicing even for a day. I have to get this routine perfect in time for auditions.”

Kitagawa stayed silent for a moment, biting his lip. “Well, if you won’t go to the infirmary, would you at the very least accompany me on a walk? You may be able to just walk this injury off, and return to practice without an issue.

Yuuki hesitated. Could he really afford to take such a break? But then again, walking with Kitagawa, going on a walk with an idol ranked so high above him... It might just prove to be beneficial for him. “A walk sounds fine. As long as it isn’t too long, I want to practice more before lights out.”

The two walked out into the courtyard together. The sun had just barely set, and the first stars of the night were starting to shine through the darkening sky. The cool autumn breeze whipped colorful leaves along their legs, a few of the leaves crunching under their steps as they walked down the concrete path under the canopy of increasingly vacant trees. Yuuki looked down at the leaves under them, unsure of what to say or do. His mind was flooded with thoughts on the situation. He could take this chance to learn what it meant to be a high ranked idol! But what if Kitagawa thought he was using him to get ahead? Or what if he saw other idols as competition and refused, or worse, gave fake, sabotaging advice? Lost in his thoughts, he ended up nearly tripping directly into the fountain in the center of the courtyard.

“Careful. We wouldn’t want you to fall again,” Kitagawa warned.

“Sorry,” Yuuki muttered, looking off to the side. “I must’ve got lost in my thoughts.” He laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

“Here, have a seat.” Kitagawa sat on one of the benches that faced the fountain and patted the spot next to him. “We can walk again when you’re more focused.”

Yuuki took a seat on the bench as well. Still unsure of what to say, he stayed silent as he watched the water sprouting from the fountain and down into the pool below.

“It’s relaxing, isn’t it?” Kitagawa broke the silence between them. “I frequently come here when I need some time away, or when I need inspiration.”

Yuuki didn’t reply. What was there to say? He didn’t need time away. In fact, he needed the opposite. He should probably get back to practicing already. He was starting to get antsy.

“You know,” Kitagawa apparently still had more to say. Wonderful. “Dancing and singing are art forms, just like painting. Idols themselves really are artists. I always admired them for that reason, and found myself wanting to expand my horizons outside of just a singular art form. However-” The ''however” caught Yuuki’s attention, and he looked to Kitagawa. “-Just like with painting, there is such a thing as practicing too much. How long were you in that practice room for?”

“Since dance lessons ended so...” Yuuki counted up the hours in his head. “About 3 and a half hours I think.”

“And did you take a break once in that time?”

“No.”

“Ah, see? You have to give yourself a chance to rest.”

“I don’t have time to rest. I have to work as much as I can. I have to catch up to everyone else. Almost everyone in the school is ranked higher than me, including-” Yuuki stopped himself. No, it would be selfish to mention her. It wasn’t his fault she was so much better than him.

“Including your sister, correct?” Kitagawa asked, looking to Yuuki.

Yuuki sighed. “Yeah. Including her. She’s always been better than me. She was our parents’ clear favorite. The ace student, the soccer MVP, the Theatre star... I always paled in comparison to her. So I have to keep working harder, so I can be on her level.”

It was something Yuuki had dealt with since his sister was born. In everything she did, she shined brighter than him. Everything became about her. She was the center of their lives, and Yuuki was almost completely forgotten. He always tried to work himself harder, push himself more, fight on despite exhaustion, but nothing ever worked for them. He was never good enough. He thought that maybe, just maybe, attending the Atlas Idol Academy would change that but of course it didn’t. His sister climbed far above him almost instantly, and ended up near the top of the rankings, while he stayed near the bottom.

“So you want to climb up to the top of this school’s ranking? And you think you can do that by dancing on an injured ankle?”

The question cut hard on Yuuki. Well, yeah, when he puts it like that of course it sounds bad. “No but...”

“You know, I was the same with my own paintings, at a time. I watched even younger artists soar above me. Naturally, my first reaction was that I wasn’t working hard enough. So I pushed myself more. First I gave up sleeping, then eating, then so much as putting the brush down for a few seconds. Despite my greatest effort, everything I painted turned out... soulless. They lacked emotion, meaning, everything. It wasn’t until I injured my wrist, and passed out from exhaustion, that I realized how much damage I was doing not only to myself, but to my art.” Kitagawa sighed and looked back to the fountain. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Yuuki stared at the fountain as he processed his classmate’s words. He understood but... that was different right? Wasn’t it? If he worked harder, if he pushed himself, he’d be the best. “It’s just not the same situation.”

“Not the exact same, but there are striking similarities. What will you do if your ankle gets worse, or if you pass out. You’re determined about this audition, are you not? If you end up hurt, you’ll only cause yourself to not be able to participate at all.”

Yuuki knew he was right but... but... No. No buts this time. “...I know...” He muttered. It kind of sucked to admit, but Kitagawa may have had a point. He couldn’t audition if he ended up hospitalized.

“Good.” Kitagawa smiled and got up. “So, what are your plans now?”

Yuuki rose as well, stretching his arms as he did so. “I think I’ll go back to my room for now. My ankle feels better, but I’ll keep an eye on it and go to the infirmary if things get worse. And uh...thanks for looking out for me. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course. Contact me anytime you’re in need of a reminder. Would you like me to escort you to your dorm?”

“I wouldn’t mind that at all.” Without really thinking, Yuuki offered his arm to Kitagawa, who...actually took it? He realized a second too late what he had done, and averted his gaze to hide the dusting of pink on his face. Not that anyone could see it with how dark it was.

The two walked arm in arm together until they reached Yuuki’s dorm room. They said their good nights before parting ways, and Yuuki went straight to bed so he could rest up for the next day. In the time following, Yuuki followed his own pace, and found himself able to master the routine in time for the audition, leading to his group acing the audition with flying colors. He still fell into his old mindset from time to time, but when he did, his new friend was there, always supportive, always willing to remind him to work at his own pace to be the best he could be.

#persona 5 #persona #p5 #yuuki mishima #yusuke kitagawa #Anonymous #mailbox

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snkpolls · 6 years ago

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SnK S3E18 Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 381 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 363 Responses

This was considered a very emotional episode for many viewers, but also highly praised. A majority 86.8% of viewers rated the episode 5/5, with only a few less thrilled viewers.

beautiful episode

Attack on Feels at its finest yet again

It felt slightly underwhelming, but I don't think it couldn't have been considering how great the previous episode was

I cried so much, but I liked it a lot.

Brilliant and excruciating

the most emotionally impactful episode for me so far. it was perfectly done

Awful, fast-paced, and just a statement that Araki wanted to get this out of the way before he could very probably put his eremika fillers. Him cutting out Reienr's tears is unforgivable. It lessens his relationship with bert when the fucking back-bump was a highlight of the OP.

Best of the season

Powerful episode with excellent voice acting.

It was absolutely perfect!

It was so emotional and dramatic, this show keeps getting better and better

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE EPISODE? 371 Responses

A number of notable moments split the chart into several nearly even pieces. In fact, 16.2% of respondents could not decide their favorite moment. 12.7% did favor watching Levi make his final choice, with Levi and Hange saying their goodbyes to Erwin, Hange’s speech, and the 104th holding Armin in the 9%’s.

Shirtless Armin really waters my crops

This episode was DEVASTATING. OnoD had only one line, but even that one, all soft and weak that made the Commander sound so *human*... I was practically sobbing. And the look on Levi's face just. Just ended me.

Eren and Mikasa's pain was beautifully done. Kaji Yuuki is an absolute marvel, his voice is always dripping with emotion and Eren's pain brought me to tears, too. Not to mention Mikasa's wail...

WHICH SEIYUU WAS THE MVP THIS EPISODE? 366 Responses

Of course, such emotional performances should be credited to the talented voice acting. 36.6% of respondents believe all of them deserve equal praise. 25.1% thought Eren’s seiyuu, Yuki Kaji, was MVP for this episode, followed by 17.8% Yui Ishikawa, who plays Mikasa.

Thanks to the voice actors it had more impact than the manga. I cried for Levi, who had to make the hardest decision of his life.

Yoooo i made a post on reddit appreciating Zeke's VA but he didn't get included in the VA list ;_;

i am a hardcore dub over sub person and yuki kaji had me in tears. SUPER phenomenal voice performance in this episode, jesus christ.

Might’ve been the best ensemble voice acting I’ve ever seen in anything and that included movies. Eren’s, Mikasa, and Levi’s performances were phenomenal. Also, Erwin and Bertholdt’s voiceactors made their deaths that much more impactful.

Great VA work. Growing increasingly attached to floch character because his VA is so good.

Regarding the voice actors this episode, everyone did an awesome job and I expect EreMika to take top place. I chose Hange though because this episode showed new sides of her and it felt like she had a bigger variety of emotions to display. From the relentless wish to kill a titan, which was something uncharacteristic of her usual self, to the strong and determined ""It was my decision"" and then her desperate and vulnerable speech, and finally, her worn-out ""He's already dead."

I may have said all the voice actors were MVP this episode(they are tbh lol added a lot to this already emotional episode) but Mikasa's crying omg I FELT THAT

Hands down to the voice actors this episode, man. They deserve all the praise they can get. 🙌

THIS EPISODE HAD A PROFOUND LACK OF BACKGROUND MUSIC. DO YOU THINK THIS WAS THE CORRECT DECISION ON THE PART OF THE ANIME TEAM? 369 Responses

The majority of the episode had minimal or no background music. 71% of respondents were especially supportive of the decision, with 19.2% who were simply content. The rest would have preferred some more soundtracks or didn’t even notice at all.

It was a great decision, we could focus on what was the most important during those scenes - pure emotion in an outstanding performance by the VA's.

I feel like a track could've been placed during Hange's speech, but otherwise I liked the silence

thanksArminTitan ruined everything

It creeped me out so much. Awful yet good

It was great. But it could also have been great with music so I don't know if it was a good choice.

The silence made it feel eerie, you were able to hear the sizzling body in the background.

THE LACK OF AN OP WAS AN EXCELLENT DECISION. JUST HEARING SHIGASHINA BURNING? EXCELLENT DECISION.

This episode destroyed me! I was nearly in tears during the whole episode and finally shed tears once the music started playing at the end 😭

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT HANGE’S SPEECH? 371 Responses

Hange’s monologue about loss tugged a lot of heart strings. 35.8% of respondents preferred seeing the flashback of Moblit’s sacrifice. 33.2% liked everything Hange had to say, while 20.8% favored the hug between Hange and Mikasa.

WHO DO YOU FEEL WAS OBJECTIVELY THE BETTER PERSON TO REVIVE? 370 Responses

The decision between Armin and Erwin’s survival split the participants’ responses near evenly, though 47.3% thought the best objective choice was to revive Erwin, while 42.4% thought Armin was a better choice. (A small 10.3% thought neither were good options, you monsters!)

I want to say that depends on what sort of objectively we are looking for. Are we looking at it from an in character perspective? Then yes, I would've chosen Erwin. However, if we are looking at it from a story analysis/out of universe perspective, I feel Erwin should always have died, as Armin, in my opinion, has more potential for an additional narrative arc (though his character development would also have been perfect if he had died there) but also through Erwin's death, a lot more people gained new development (Levi, Hange, Armin obviously, Floche to some degree, to some degree the rest of the 104th) that I feel is much more important from a narrative point of view. This arc marks the moment where the status quo about the world is very violently shaken up, and Erwin's death does the same thing to the SC which I feel works best thematically.

OBJECTIVENESS ASIDE, WHO WOULD YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO REVIVE? 371 Responses

When it comes to personal preference, 70.1% of respondents would revive Armin, while 24% would have picked Erwin.

HOW DO YOU THINK ERWIN WOULD FEEL IF HE HAD BEEN PICKED INSTEAD OF ARMIN? 365 Responses

Had Erwin been chosen to receive the serum instead of Armin, 49.6% of respondents believe he would have mostly felt guilty. 25.8% believed Erwin would understand the final decision, while 15.3% think he’d be disappointed.

Accepting, but terribly sad, guilty and weary.

Happy to find out about the basement but once he confirmed his father’s theory, I think he would have preferred not being chosen.

Depressed. After the basement? Unmotivated and listless.

The first thing is he would want to go see the basement. After that, he'd continue to be crushed by his guilt and feel burdened with the responsibility of the titan power even though he no longer has a motivation to lead an army.

His speech made everyone go on a suicide charge with him, therefore after he would survive his guilt of fallen comrades would be unmeasurable. The charge was his final decision and his final redemption.

Erwin not only feel guilty at having been forced to live after coming to peace with his death, he would probably also come to resent Levi for breaking Erwin's trust by bringing him back.

Idk i feel he'd kinda be resentful like he was ready to die and he did value armin's skills so maybe he would view them killing off potential as a bad choice?

He would be suicidal like Reiner. Truth is Erwin wanted to die. And the basement reveal wouldn't make him happy. Like oh shit I found out the truth but now I have to worry about humans(Marley) instead of Titans now.

Very very tired. And saddened by Armin's death (cause the loss of potential, and I sorta feel Erwin does see his own younger self in Armin) but at the same time, it's also the same sadness over all the recruits that died. And again, that they died but he lived.

WHY DO YOU THINK LEVI INJECTED ARMIN INSTEAD OF ERWIN? 371 Responses

Multiple possibilities factored into Levi’s decision to pick Armin, though 45.8% of viewers believe it was mostly because Levi wanted to let Erwin rest. 42.6% believed it was a mix of all possible factors that played a role in his decision.

Erwin told Levi how he felt all his dead comrades were looking at him, Levi didn't want him to live with the guilt any longer.

I think ultimately, after Floch's speach Levi realized that Erwin was indeed becoming a monster and he didnt want him to go further down. But I also think that he cared for Armin and his dream enough that also played a part in his choice. He may have realized that he was being a hypocrite when he told Eren to set his feelings aside.

I believe that Levi wanted Erwin to escape this hellish world but also because he saw a more visionary future from Armin.

He realized Erwin gave up on his dream and made his mind to die but Armin hasnt and died while still longing for his dream. Plus he wanted him to rest from being a devil with guilt

Levi realized that Erwin had given all he had to give and that he’d only be bringing back an empty shell of who Erwin was. It would also be cruel to bring him back, as Levi explained.

He realized that Erwin and Kenny were both driven by the intoxication of their dreams, and wanted to set Erwin free from that.

Levi understood that Erwin's wish was to die there, at that moment when he was finally in tune with his words as a commander

Many factors influenced Levi's final decision. But I want to say something that suits better than simply saying "Levi chooses Armin". I mean, yes, he gave him the serum and the chance to be reborn to Armin, but I saw him more as if Levi chose Erwin as the best way for him, not for humanity. Both (and all) are slaves of a dream, a goal to achieve in their lives, and it is wrong to say that some dreams are more "good" or more valuable than others. Their lives cannot be measured by their actions, but by their souls. And Erwin soul was tired, full of pitty and guilt for how much soldiers and close friends died because "they gave their hearts" to him, their life and dreams for humanity, and every dead was a weight that fall in his shoulders, every mission, every year. And for Levi, Erwin is the most important person in his life, he knew all of his suffer. Erwin's death was the freedom for him, being freed of living in this hellsite and being called by the name of the devil. In summary, Levi decision was the most kind, empathetic and noble act in his life for Erwin. He loves this man so much, he needs to rest.

WHICH CHARACTER DO YOU FIND YOURSELF MOURNING THE MOST? 370 Responses

Three long-term character deaths happened in this episode. 58.4% of respondents grieved Erwin the most. Moblit was mourned by 18.9% of participants and 16.8% were more emotional for Bertolt’s demise.

Bertholdt deserved better 😔

I thought I got over Erwin’s death but haHA GUESS I WAS WRONG

RIP Erwin.

I feel almost cheated by having Bertl reduced to just titan fodder for the sake of pushing a protag’s story along.

F to Erwin

WHICH PART OF THE EPISODE GOT YOU CHOKED UP, IF AT ALL? 369 Responses

There were plenty of tearful moments that got viewers grabbing their tissues. Mikasa’s panicked crying when Levi was preparing to inject Erwin choked up 16.8% of participants the most. Levi’s reaction to Erwin’s death was the saddest to 13.3%, and 11.9% were emotional over Eren’s final plea to save Armin.

I teared up when Erwin died; I didn't realize the anime adaptation of Serumbowl would affect me so much. Kudos to the directors, VAs, animators, everyone for such an impactful episode

The episode was beautiful. It made me cry throughout most of it. The voice acting was amazing, especially Mikasa’s VA imo. Tons of respects for the VAs for delivering so much raw emotion and the animators’ amazing work on the visuals.

I'm not crying you're crying

Even if Eren and Mikasa were more demonstrative in their emotions, the one that made my heart broke is without hesitation Levi. His silent despair was much more poignant.

the "Which part of the episode got you choked up, if at all" made me insulted. I choked up the entire episode and this wasn't even a option.

I didn't cry like I did in the manga.

HOW WELL DID THE ANIME ADAPT THE CORRESPONDING CHAPTERS? 367 Responses

Overall, a majority of respondents believed the episode was very faithful to the manga with 80.4% rating at a near perfect score.

i wish the anime production team would realize that since anime ("film") and manga ("print") are two totally different media, you cant just adapt an anime episode "panel by panel" from a manga and have it be as good. it needs to be formatted for *anime*. such a lazy fucking way to go about adapting a show

Honestly this episode was emotionally exhausting, in a good way. The silence was a brilliant choice on the directors' part as it let the VAs raw emotion carry the episode. Character animation and expressions were also on point. Couldn't be happier with the adaptation of Ch.83-84.

IF LEVI HAD CHOSEN TO INJECT ERWIN, DO YOU THINK THAT THE CURRENT MANGA SITUATION WOULD BE AS DIRE? 370 Responses

It’s possible the events of the manga would have been different if Erwin were chosen instead of Armin. 24.9% of respondents the situation would be just as dire, 24.6% are not sure what would have happened, and 24.1% have faith in Erwin to come up with better strategies.

Armin will come through like he always does

His presence COULD have prevented a lot of factors, but this is just a guess, there is no guarantee he would change anything.

It would probably have been as bad, but Armin still has time to do something important.

Eren probably would've been a bit resentful over losing his best friend. Resulting in him going off on his own and being potentially more uncaring with the choices he makes

Would things be different if Erwin had been saved? I believe a lot of the shit that's going on in the manga right now is because cultists infiltrated the Survey Corps. I know Erwin is not perfect but his absence left a clear gap in their organization.

Hard to say. Grass is greener on the other side.

Just different. I don't think we can say that Erwin would've dealt with the current situation better because the current situation would not exist at all. From the moment of Erwin's death, the decisions became Hange's and her priorities shaped those. Erwin, from the start, would've made different decisions. Those may have led to the same situation occurring, those might have led to a whole different set of difficult circumstances. It is impossible to predict. Plus there is the Eren factor. We have Eren causing a lot of trouble for the SC right now, and that is an Eren who did get the revival of his best friend and his close companionship for a few more years. And Eren who lost Armin would've acted completely differently. Would he have resented the SC? Would he have even wanted to stay under the people who, in his eyes, killed Armin? Would anyone be able to talk him down. Would he strike out on his own more quickly and have another reason for potentially joining with Zeke? Maybe in a universe where Erwin was revived, sure, they would've had his experience and political savvy, but it is quite possible they would've lost Eren completely at a much earlier point. Does that lead to a better or worse situation? We literally cannot say.

I don't think there's a way to know for sure. Erwin stated that he wasn't sure what he planned to do after seeing Eren's basement, plus I'm not sure if he would have been able to handle any more guilt related to sending his soldiers to their deaths. Personally, I agreed with Levi when he said that Erwin deserved to rest.

No fucking Armin is useless as of now. That's what Hange was saying about leadership and insight. We could easily argue Isayama hasn't written anything for Armin, but you could also argue that attests to his lack of. Erwin wouldn't let Eren go rogue. The biggest question to ask all manga readers is whether Armin has done anything for humanity that Erwin couldn't have done thus far.

The situation inside the walls would definitely be a lot more organized, but when it comes to turning the tables on Marley, Armin seems to find the most creative ways to turn the tables on their enemies in a way that doesn’t leave a pile of corpses behind him the way Erwin does. The early part of this arc demonstrated what they lost with Erwin, but I believe it’s Armin’s turn to do something great again. And let’s be honest, it’s Eren’s fault that Armin hasn’t gotten the chance to do anything besides plan the Liberio reinforcements anyways.

EREN WAS UNABLE TO LET ARMIN GO, A SHOW OF HOW MUCH HIS FRIENDS ARE HIS WEAKNESS. DO YOU THINK HE STILL HARBORS THE SAME WEAKNESS TOWARDS THEM IN THE CURRENT EVENTS? 371 Responses

One of Eren’s biggest vulnerabilities is his attachment to his friends, although current manga events have displayed Eren’s less heartfelt treatment of his loved ones. 51.5% of respondents, however, still believe Eren harbors the same weakness for them now as he did back then. 25.6% aren’t quite sure, while 18.6% believe he has completely moved on.

He does care. He just isn’t weak about it. Or at least, he doesn’t show it. But he still wants to protect them.

I think only placing Armin or Mikasa in a deathly situation would descover If Eren still harbours feelings for them. In this point of the manga I believe Eren has forgotten all love and compassion and he needs a sparkle to remind them.

He grew up, so of course he has changed. But I still believe he cares about them, he just doesn't want them around rn and prefers to do this by himself.

Eren never really cared about his friends. He didn't wnat to let Armin go because he can't take no for an answer.

Some yes but I think he is influenced by so many previous titan shifters and the titans themselves it got kinda suppressed

Probably? Maybe he kept what happened here in mind in order to say the horrible things he did in Ch 112. I honestly hadn't thought of this before, that Eren himself would distance his friends because they were his weaknesses. :/

I don’t think Eren actually loves Armin, just what Armin symbolizes to him

Maybe a little but not as much

if we can believe what the message Isayama is making us read between the lines to see, yes, the 104th are his weakness and he is subjecting himself to be a terrible villain for their futures and freedom, 100%

HAS THE ANIME ADAPTATION OF THE SERUMBOWL™ CHANGED YOUR PERCEPTION OF EREN AND MIKASA IN THIS MOMENT? 367 Responses

When the Serumbowl chapters were first released, there were varying reactions to Eren and Mikasa’s actions. With years since then and the anime retelling, most viewers’ opinions remained unchanged, 69.5% of respondents say that they were always empathetic, while 10.1% are still indifferent, and 9.3% remain upset by their behavior.

I get where they were coming from, I still do. But I also still think they shouldn't have acted this way (neither of them, even Levi), but it was a tough and intense situation

It was badly animated and overacted so I cringed. But that’s not the characters’ fault

Eren was understandably sad but Mikasa proved her unlikability further with her need to resort to violence.

From their perspective, it was reasonable for them to feel that way. However, I felt disappointed that Erwin was going to die especially since I would have chosen him.

I understood their behavior, but they were in the wrong ( both versions)

Empathised before, but now moreso

It changed a bit from Eren side bc I was surprise by the ease he could have to rebel against someone he admire that much, but also Mikasa bc with a manga reader perspective, I saw that she wouldn't have killed none of Levi and Floch. But tbh I just thought "Oh waw, it's almost scary to see how well they get along when it comes to murder someone"

EreMika being emotional during the serumbowl. Well that is understandable but not excusable. I could argue that Levi was emotional too, his decision to revive Armin wasn't just because he wanted Erwin to rest but also because he thought Armin had a good, pure dream (otherwise he wouldn't have gotten all those flashbacks of Armin flailing about the sea). But EreMika only wanted their friend alive, with little consideration towards Humanity's chances of survival, and only after a long process of persuasion did Mikasa finally let go of Armin...while Eren still did not. That, coupled with the fact that Mikasa legit attacked their one and only best soldier because emotions...I cannot find their actions justifiable…

Eren action just screams childish and selfish just like a child who is throwing a tantrum and crying out loud when his demand wasn’t fulfilled. I understand he can’t helped it since it’s his precious friend but it just shows his immaturity and his inability to understand other people pains other than his own. I don’t see him putting his faith in Levi’s decisions nor others comrades’ when the decisions didn’t go the way he likes; he was angry, bitter, he even forced to take it away and threatening.

FLOCH HAS COMPARED BOTH ERWIN AND EREN TO A DEVIL. DO YOU THINK HE SEES THE SAME QUALITIES IN EREN NOW THAN HE HAD SEEN IN ERWIN? 369 Responses

Floch believes only a devil can defeat their enemies. With the current happenings of the manga, 73.4% of respondents believe Floch thinks Eren holds similar “monstrous” qualities that Erwin had, though 14.6% are not quite sure.

Maybe Floch in the Manga is trying to become the devil because he knows no one else will do it.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SPLIT SECOND FLASHBACK OF ERWIN RAISING HIS HAND AT SCHOOL? 367 Responses

The anime added a brief transition scene of Erwin raising his hand at school. 52.9% of respondents enjoyed the addition and felt it helped show that Erwin was in a dreamlike state. 40.6% of viewers though it was a neat extra touch that added more impact to the moment. A small amount of viewers could have done without it.

I jumped when i saw that moment, that was a perfect decision, this episode is truly poetic cinema.

Essentially the second option, but I'd like to say that it wasn't just a "neat" addition, it was a heartbreakingly poignant one.

really makes you realize how much erwin was stuck in the past

I blinked and almost missed it, so if they were gonna add it, they should have made it a tad longer

Apparently this still wasn't enough for people to realize that this was Erwin hallucinating, and not him rejecting the serum.

I feel like Erwin overheard everything & willingly rejected the serum, but was just so out of it that he couldn’t form the right words to tell Levi his actual thoughts on the matter. I think it’s good writing, generally speaking.

I started sobbing

It was funny and silly actually

This scene was made in perfection. It showed Erwin’s hopes and dreams but also his big heroism and dedication to the cause.

iM NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

NOW THAT WE KNOW MORE ABOUT BERTOLT, HAVE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT HIS DEATH CHANGED? 366 Responses

More information on Bertolt’s backstory was revealed later in the manga, which had 31.7% of respondents feel more pity for him when watching his death in the anime. 24.6% were always sad to see him die and 21% of participants felt more sad about it.

Didn't really change. On one hand i feel bad for him but i also really disliked him.

His death in the anime mirrored Marco's and seemed fitting

Nah, i didn't felt anything when he died, and even tho i am more empatethic and pit for with him rn, he still killed hundreds of people. It's good to understand the characters reasons (somethign wedon't have with Eren) but it's also a fact that his reasons don't erase what he did.

I felt bad for Bert's death before the Marley arc. But more of a disturbing pity way. Now I feel alot more sympathetic. However, he still deserved to die unfortunately.

In that moment I felt so bad and there are times when I do but in general I prefer Paradis to Marley. Though I understand what an awful situation they are in. The music and how it was carried out was heartbreaking tho.

His reaction just broke me, in the end he was left alone, with his own guilt and unfulfilment.

I am more sympathetic, but I still believe that he brought that onto himself.

I've always been ambivalent about Bert's death; I'm not happy to see him die but I'm not particularly sad either.

No, he's one of the characters the series could never get me to care much for.

Seeing Bertholdt’s death made me a lot more emotional than the manga. His reaction and voice acting really hit it home for me since I have a soft spot for him after reading the manga. RIP Bertie, despite the circumstances he couldn’t control he definitely deserved better :’(

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE ADDITION OF BERTOLT SMILING AS HE SPOTS HIS FORMER COMRADES? 368 Responses

The anime added a moment of Bertolt’s temporarily smiling when he saw his former comrades. 44.3% of participants thought the addition added more emotional impact to his death, and 28.5% of participants felt sorry for him. 14.9% were upset that Bertolt had the nerve to smile at all.

Dark as heck, I love it

After he clearly asked them to die, how could he think they would help him? (Granted, he was panicking and all but still...)

It was a good show that for a brief moment after regaining consciousness, he was back to thinking of his days as a solder and that his old friendship would save him, before realizing the gravity of the situation

Didn't notice until it was pointed out on Reddit; strange detail to add

It made the scene weirdly comedic

That moment of hope then realization did work emotionally, but I preferred the way it happened in the manga.

It wasn't a smile. More like a baffled-smile.

We all know that his actions were imposed, and the thought of them alone has traumatized the RBA trio. They have shown many times the guilt and need for forgiveness for everything they did. They don't deserve any of this, much less die in such a horrible way as being devoured alive! For me, Berthold was a background character, the boy who was always next to Reiner and that's all, but reviewing and watching more closely his evolution in the anime, even more his death, made me feel really bad for him. Berth deserved more attention in his life, more love and praise, because it is evident that his self-esteem was THAT LOW for all the comments that others gave, including Reiner, his best friend. Anyway, as I said in a post, the one who died was not the Colossal Titan, was a lonely, shy and noble teenager who just wanted to be loved.

I truly wish the survey corps were instead able to convert Bertolt and Reiner to their side instead of watching Bertolt die so brutally. The fact that he flashed a smile when he saw his former comrades really goes to show that he instinctively thought of them as his friends. Truly a sad addition to the anime. All he wanted was to be found.

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 366 Responses

From the preview scenes of the Basement, a majority 39.9% of participants anticipate the scene of Eren being unable to unlock the door with the key. 29.8% of respondents are most looking forward to Eren, Mikasa, Levi, and Hange approaching the basement. 13.7% are anticipating the scene where Armin learns about the sacrifices made to revive him.

I just need to see Eren's face trying so Hard to lift the bar that fell on top of his house and Mikasa and Levi just lift it like it is a feather.

Levi opening the basement's door with his foot is one of the best scenes of the whole chapter and no one will ever change my mind

THERE HAVE BEEN RUMORS ABOUT A POSSIBLE ANIME-ONLY EM FLASHBACK SEQUENCE NEXT EPISODE TO MAKE SURE THE EPISODE ENDS WITH GRISHA AND FAYE LEAVING THEIR HOUSE. THOUGHTS? 367 Responses

There are rumors that the new episode will have an extended flashback with Eren and Mikasa. 60.8% of respondents are fine with the addition as long as it doesn’t detract from the manga material. Others are very excited about the flashback, don’t want the extra scenes, or don’t care.

As long as it contributes to what’s currently happening, I won’t have a problem with it.

I don't think anime has time for filler

The anime direly needs a breather episode to let people process the events of the last few episodes, and that would allow for it while also leading to an ending that brings in the next part of the story.

I dont like filler but if it's relevant and faithful to the story, why not

I like when they stick straight to the manga, but this will be interesting?

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

The anime deciding to work both 83 and 84 into an episode solved my biggest issue with Serumbowl just like that. By having both chapters flow into each other, the sense of urgency and chaos of the event actually resonated with me, rather that having lost that in the monthly wait between chapters. And I really appreciate that.

I was crying like a fuckin baby, this was amazing.

Wonderful episode. So much emotion. I was only disappointed to see that it removed the close-up shot of a crying Reiner. I believe it was the only scene of him ever shedding a tear since he became a warrior..

Hange may have suffered the most by losing her close friend/assistant and her close friend/commander + physically losing her left eye. She also has to step up to the mantle of being the new commander to fill the impossibly large shoes that Erwin left behind.

All the emotions I felt while watching this episode made me realise how much i am greatful for those who matter to me the most, this is why this episode was just the best.

Erwin will live forever in my heart. Best anime character

Sad that we didn't see Reiner crying.

I find it great that Bert's death was done in such a great way where whether you are a Manga or Anime-only viewer, you have tons of different conflicting opinions regarding Bert's death.

This episode was splendid, brilliant in every way, I just have to give a round of applause to the voice actors and animators who did this great work. And maybe for that reason and to relive these feelings already believed buried years ago, I thought about what things would have happened and not if another path had been taken. The death of Erwin was the breaking of everything. In that time (years ago) when I saw that Levi chose Armin, it was sad, VERY SAD, but I had faith that he would be the future and the hope to guide us to a better destiny, one without big conflicts and wise and transcendent decisions, but no. Until now Armin has not done much, almost nothing. The current situation of the government, the "betrayal" from Eren and genocide on Liberio, Historia waiting for the time to pass so that her son born and immediately introduce her to the curse that cost so much to get out, ingesting the Beast Titan from Zeke. All these factors make me think that if Erwin was alive none of this would have happened, his leadership and conviction are more necessary than ever now. And seeing it as a whole, more than the fact that Erwin is officially dead (I mean in anime and manga), it gives me even more pain and helplessness than before to see that maybe Levi's decision was not the right one. This feel of desolation also falls for Levi (ofc), Hange, Armin, Eren, Historia, in everyone! Perhaps if the situation had been different, maybe everything would be better, I don't know. However, I don't want to stop believing in Armin, if he was chosen is because he has a purpose to fulfill, perhaps being the new "Helos" that will stop this great war, I don't know either... We'll see it soon, I hope so.

Some of the timing in the animation was weird and irked me a little

"I read the manga, I know whats gonna happen, I'll be fine" - BOY WAS I WRONG! Cried like a bitch pratically the whole episode holy crap what a masterpiece this episode was

It was so so so so badly animated. It looked worse than the manga. The amount of completely still frames was absurd.

It feels like the end of an era. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the anime the same way. After this, everything turns upside down, and everything seems tainted by the truth of their world. When I think like that I'm glad Levi let Erwin go when he did. Erwin would have thrived in the current events, for sure, but he would've hated it and himself for his part in it. I have no doubt Erwin would blame himself thoroughly for Armin's death, if he had been given the serum then.

Best episode of season 3 thus far. I feel like the art in this episode is the best out of any of them, mostly due to the fact that they probably brought back some of the season 2 staff to work their Close-Up-Facial-Shot-Magic™️. There was a lot of detail put into the faces of the characters this time around and I feel like that’s been lacking ever since season 3 started. I hope they stick around for the rest of the season.

As someone who is extremely neutral about Mikasa, this episode made me shed tears at the expression of utter pain she had when she accepted armin's death, 10/10 animation, how heartbreaking.

The last 3 episodes are the greatest Attack On Titan episodes ever. I just can't decide which one is the best. I am leaning on Hero, but both Perfect Game and Midnight Sun could easily take its place.

omg it was so good I died and thanked God that snk exists kjnhbdhcbdsapozkd

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 353 Responses

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

#snk spoilers #snk s3 #snk poll #snk polls #poll results

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zukadiary · 6 years ago

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Ocean’s 11 ~ Cosmos Troupe 2019

Ocean’s was great! I loved it so much! I thought the previous two versions were fine, but never cared for either enough to go back and watch them again. Turns out if you adore every single person in the troupe putting it on, the ensemble cast makes it a home run.

If I remember correctly, there are some noticeable differences between the Hoshigumi and Hanagumi versions. This was a slightly tweaked and polished Hanagumi version. The show does a great job of featuring a lot of people; nearly everyone gets something fun to do (it’s consequently not the best taidan for Akkii or Riku, but if it wasn’t their last I’d really say it’s good for everybody). The scenes change quickly (and flow a lot better than I remember), so even if a given person’s appearances are short they’re typically fairly frequent. I’m not terribly pleased that the prolific use of projections seems to be a continuing theme in Takarazuka, but Ocean’s actually used them WELL, and with all the hacking/security/surveillance going on, and the flashing lights and artificiality of Las Vegas, it actually makes sense.

There are three (3!) major ad lib scenes that are different every day, something I didn’t realize ahead of time having only seen the previous versions on DVD:

Tess walking in on Benedict and his lackeys trying to physically threaten the Evergreen people into handing over the rights to their non-profit and Benedict having to lie about what they were doing

Saul giving everyone a pre-caper “acting lesson” in which Susshii says something ridiculous and the rest of the eleven have to remember it and mimic her in unison

Rusty pretending to be “Dr. Johnson” to cart Saul off after the fake heart attack that serves as a distraction during the actual heist (for those who can read Japanese, one brave twitter user is keeping track of all the Dr. Johnson ad libs)

...and these made me really look forward to seeing the show again and again. I probably could have gone every day and been thoroughly entertained.

Danny Ocean is the most boring vanilla blank canvas of a character and requires the actress playing him to really bring everything herself. Fortunately, Makaze and her devastatingly attractive body could have stood in the corner in those open-necked suits without saying a word for 3 hours and I’d still have given it a 10/10. On top of that though, I thought she played him perfectly. Her sort of low-key coolness that for me has come off a bit stiff at times with some of her other top star stuff was spot on for Danny, who I fully believed was chill, aloof, and sexy enough to both pull off such an impossible robbery without a moment’s anxiety, AND stalk the woman trying to divorce him such that she was not only NOT immediately put off completely but also ultimately able to fall back in love with him. In the dream sequence that opens Act 2, when Makaze changes from serpent to prince and leaves the bouquet of flowers on Tess’s bed for her to accept whenever she’s ready, my heart clenched so bad I accidentally groaned audibly the first time I saw it. She also sang the best I’ve ever heard her sing.

Madoka is a beautiful Tess, and above all else I was THRILLED that they finally let her have such a grown up role and that she slayed it. I had absolutely no doubt that she’d slay it; she’s a fantastic actress who as far as I can tell is only battling her round little face and height difference with Makaze when it comes to getting mature roles. But they styled her flawlessly and her dresses were to die for and she looked so fantastic I hope all concerned parties got the hint that this is fine. I want to see the two of them do something sizzling hot together (although I have to admit, dude chasing after his wife who wants so badly to divorce him IS a fun dynamic that we never really get to see in Takarazuka, unless they’re doing Ocean’s).

I love Kiki more and more every time I see her, and while it’s hard not to be annoyed that she’s not a top star already, I will be so furious if they take her away from Soragumi; I absolutely love what they bring out of her. I think she and Makaze have a great dynamic together, and she was both cool and funny enough to make Rusty very enjoyable to watch. There wasn’t a single Dr. Johnson scene I saw that didn’t have me laughing out loud and wishing I had another ticket. One day I sat in B-seki with a group of students on a class trip, and one of them gasped すごい when she finished her finale-opening solo. Here’s a funny story from Makaze’s ochakai that I read on twitter: there is a duet between Danny and Rusty during which Rusty lights a cigarette, and apparently Koike wanted to modernize Ocean’s by giving him an IQOS instead. Makaze convinced him that was the worst idea ever and wants all Kiki fans to thank her personally.

MVP: Zun as Benedict. I suspect her interpretation might be polarizing once the world at large gets to see Ocean’s, but I loooooved it. Once upon a time there was a Japanese meme going around about what kind of date various prominent otokoyaku would bring you on, and Zun was pegged as a young, sweet, filthy rich kid who would reserve the entirety of Disneyland and then take you there. Her Benedict was like the evil version of that. I appreciated so much that she went a different direction than Beni and Daimon and played him as just a rich sleazy horrible asshole without the over-the-top comical bits—and she was STILL very funny, just as the straight man to everyone else’s ridiculous antics. She was so dark, so angry, and had such a scary glint in her eyes for such a cute little muffin; so impressively gross it was weird to see her smiling genuinely in the finale. And she’s a DAMN GOOD STAGE KISSER, astonishingly so for someone who’s yet to have a romantic lead outside of shinko and Bow Hall. I very much enjoyed her team as well—mostly Mitsuki Haruka as Taylor, Aishiro Moa as Beth, and Hoshizuki Rio as Charles, keeping things funny and chaotic. Kihou Kanata/Manase Mira were even hilarious as the bodyguards (Wakato Ritsu was a fine Bruiser, but IMO it’s pretty hard to beat Taso... and I felt a gaping hole where Fuuma Kakeru should have been).

Seiko could have carried this show by herself. For whatever reason—and I rewatched the Hanagumi version recently—I didn’t think Queen Diana, outside of being sassy, was as good of a role as it was (does the DVD fail to show a lot of her antics? Maybe. Was I doing a lousy job paying attention? Possibly). But no, Seiko was all over it, convincingly the biggest force in Vegas (and this cast). I am going to miss her so so so much. Akkii and Riku ended up with the more senior but less meaty roles of Frank and Basher respectively. While Frank is on the quieter side during most of the scenes with all the 11 except for his opening solo and arrest, I personally, for probably biased reasons, really enjoyed watching Akkii and Sora in the background, where Frank is very frequently trying to coerce Linus into getting over himself and just doing the thing already. I don’t know if this has been especially tough on Riku, but her eye bags have eye bags :( As much as I’m going to miss her, I hope she gets through this and takes a nice long rest. The Soragumi landscape is going to be so weird and different without these three. They come down for the parade together with Seiko in the middle and I got choked up every single time.

I’m thrilled that Sora got Linus mostly from a rank standpoint; they announced Ocean’s before Aichan’s transfer to Senka and I was positive she was going to be Livingston. The role itself kind of unfortunately emphasized how tiny and behind she is in this troupe, but at the same time she was SO grumpy and SO cute. I feel bad taking pleasure in her angst but boy was she cute. She talked about how interesting it was to play someone who was struggling to overcome his own roadblocks, both as the only upperclassman to ever play this role, and also having just turned ken-10, where otokoyaku are supposed to “come of age” so to speak. And the frustration and uncertainty she put into the role was extremely palpable. As I’m used to her being a disembodied arm or a blurry image over someone’s shoulder on most DVDs, I couldn’t be happier that she finally has a whole solid handful of her very own scenes that I might actually be able to see not only in the theater. She’s closer to the middle when the otokoyaku dance too, AND she moved up a parade spot. I most definitely teared up when she came down the stairs featured between Rara and Mineri.

Moeko was SO CUTE as Livingston, and the scene where Rusty busts into Livingston’s place pretending to be an FBI agent was one of my favorites, along with the one where Danny comes to get the Malloy brothers and they mess with his face on the security camera. I’m so enamored with both Kotti and Yuuki Shion (Yuuki Shion dangerously so, YIKES; she’s like the awkward baby Sora I fell in love with reincarnated, plus she can do Komu-esque things with her legs and jump so astonishingly high). I will forever be obsessed with Susshii and how much joy and passion she pours into playing even the most crotchety old men. I don’t know what it IS about Rinkira that screams old man to the producers (other than that maybe they just need someone to do it), but I even liked her as Reuben, and Akine Hikaru as Yen a surprising amount. I always thought of Yen as a scary role that you don’t want your girl to get stuck with, and for someone prominent I guess it would be a bummer, but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed Akine Hikaru do much of anything before, so I was mostly just wide eyed at how acrobatic and good with a yo-yo she is.

The finale is REAL good; Makaze is hot and a little sweaty and her hair is styled to make her look even sweatier. The top-star-in-a-harem-of-musumeyaku number is done in one of my favorite aesthetics, where the musumeyaku let their hair down (literally) no matter how intricately they were styled up to that point, and you can see the creases from their former pins and braids and it’s a little messy and loose and sexy which are all things I wish they’d let musumeyaku be more often, and Makaze is in the middle just like doing illegal things with her mouth and all that jazz. The otokoyaku dance is good too, and the duet dance is cute as shit (there’s a part where Makaze like boops Madoka’s nose and then Madoka pushes her like ~stop that~ and ugh).

And speaking of ugh, the end of Act 1 where all 11 of them turn around and saunter toward the back of their stage after formulating their flawless plan put my stomach in knots, both for the sheer swagger and the overflowing love I feel for this lineup of this troupe. I know I’ve been saying this for like two years and it STILL hasn’t happened on the scale I’ve been expecting, but I can feel the transfers coming and I’m scared.

#takarazuka #reviews #ocean's 11 soragumi 19 #am i 東宝組 now 19

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arbs-high-quality-translations · 7 years ago

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arb’s high quality live reflections: Aqours 3rd Live Tour Fukuoka Day 1

I had actually written one of these for Saitama, but I ended up not finishing it until after Osaka. Oops.

The venue

Since I have school Monday morning, I couldn’t fly and instead went to the notorious Shinjuku Piccadilly, former home of fights and ietaiga, for LV. Though, things seem to have calmed down quite a bit since the beginning of the year. And I mean quite a bit. The theater was honestly deader than NA DV for the first two hours or so. After a few surprises, the energy started rising, and by the end we were fine, but the first half or so of the live definitely could have used more energy.

Since it’s my first time LV instead of DV or venue, I expected my experience to be like a “lesser” version of what people actually at Fukuoka got. But that definitely wasn’t the case. Even without being there, just being the first to experience the events of a live, not knowing what’s about to happen next, makes things feel so much more real and special. I’m not just remembering things I saw on Twitter or Discord anymore; I’m experiencing things with my own two eyes.

As a funny side note, there was actually an earthquake in the region towards the end. Everyone suddenly reacted to it, but it was only a magnitude 3 so the show continued on.

Segments of note

Opening MC

God this became an absolute circus. Arisha forgot to do her buubuu desuwa and everyone was confused, then Ainya forgot to do her Lock On. Arisha does the first diahooo but then doesn’t bother with the second one, and says that the buubuu is on her today. Then FKT forgets how to speak Japanese and starts doing calisthenics. Fun times were had by all.

MIRACLE WAVE

This was a really interesting one. The song starts off, and as always, Anchan is in the back. But rather than just nervousness on her face, like the last 4 times, she had an incredibly pained looked on her face. Like she was really worried about something. Of course, her flip goes well and the song ends as it should, but in the MC right after she just breaks down. She gives her rehearsed lines with tears in her eyes, almost bringing Rikyako to tears off on the side as well, and when Suwawa gives her the hug, she just holds her tight and cries.

This wasn’t like Saitama Day 2 when you could just see the sadness on her face. It felt like she was finally letting go of something, and her emotions were let loose with it. A really powerful moment for me because she has so much pressure and tries so hard to be the best leader that she can, and often times puts up a strong front to lead the rest of the group from. But at the same time, she’s as human as everyone else. Seeing her let go like that honestly made me feel relieved.

Fukuoka Special Intermission

Kanan is literally God. Nothing else needs to be said.

in this unstable world

This is my first time looking at the screen and not at Aikyan herself and damn I’m glad I went to at least one viewing. In terms of stage presence and dance ability she is second to none. It was already an amazing performance to begin with, and I was able to gain a new appreciation for it thanks to some excellent camera work and stage lighting.

Pianoforte Monologue

Everything started fine, but halfway through the mood changed. I think it just wasn’t Rikyako’s day. She wasn’t hitting her notes like she normally does for the song, and I think it started getting to her. She had this very clear dissatisfied and frustrated look on her face, and at times it seemed like she was going to cry. She recovered by the end of the song and ended well, but it was a rough performance to say the least.

HAPPY PARTY TRAIN

When they first came on stage wearing the costumes, everyone in the venue was shouting but we still couldn’t see on camera. Once the lights came on, everyone went crazy. This is a personal favorite song of mine, as it has a lot of meaning to me, and the performance of it this time was actually excellent. MVP goes to Suwawa for actually hitting (most of) her notes. 2L was definitely rough but she’s gotten a lot better since then.

DROPOUT!?

I’ve wanted Saint Snow to do one of their own songs this tour, but after Saitama and Osaka I gave up on that. But at long last, my wish came true. The duo looked really nervous going into it, and even during it at times when the camera closed in on their faces, but they nailed the performance. After this, the theater definitely woke up and was hype as hell for the rest of the live. Hoping to see a different song tomorrow so I can get even more Saint Snow.

WATER BLUE NEW WORLD

This is one of the songs people kept saying was really good in LV, and I can see why. While getting the whole view of the venue is quite nice, this song definitely lends itself more to close camera work. It follows the anime performance much better, and in doing so it brings back a lot of the memories and emotions I had watching episode 12 as it aired. The only thing I missed from the venue is the part in the bridge where on each measure, a ball of light flashes in the center stage that corresponds to one of the girls’ character colors. That was a really nice touch that unfortunately can’t be focused on in LV because of the important of the dance during that segment.

Kiseki Hikaru

If you think the song by itself is good, you absolutely have to watch the performance of it. Because of the OST track that it draws its main melody from, and the context in which it was released, it might feel like a farewell song, but when performed live, that gets turned around completely. Rather than making me want to cry, it gave me hope for the future. For both the franchise and myself.

As the song changes key and reaches its climax, the stage lights all turn on together and get so bright that they almost block your vision of the seiyuu in the center stage. Imagine seeing this image, but head on instead of from the side. It’s meant to resemble the sun rising, and it definitely was the highlight of the live for me.

Encore

They say white people have no rhythm, but that’s a god damn lie. It’s the Japanese that have none. We started doing the Aqours chants in the theater and a group of guys to the right of me start going completely off beat. They weren’t trying to ruin it either; they just had absolutely no sense of rhythm. For the next 5 minutes they keep starting and stopping to join back in but they cannot for the life of them figure it out. Only when the lights flash to the beat in the venue do they discover rhythm and start joining in with the rest of the theater.

Hop Step Wai!

I guess this marks the official retirement of Landing Action Yeah!!. I gave that song massive shit at first because I really didn’t like it, but over time it really grew on me, especially with how we sing it at so many events. Hop Step Wai! is already a pretty good song in my opinion, so I’m looking forward to hearing it again throughout the next year.

Yuuki wa Doko ni? Kimi no Mune ni!

Drama aside, this is probably my top Aqours song. It means so much to me, and being able to not only hear it live, but to sing along so many times over the past month has been an absolute privilege. The kicker, though, was the surprise in the bridge. The last 4 performances have just been the regular full version of the song, but this time, they added in the episode 11 version, too. I actually decided that I wanted to go to 3rd Live after I saw episode 11 and knew that I had to be there for that moment if they ever did it. I’m glad they did. It caught me by surprise, and my emotions just welled up. I had to hold myself back from crying for the rest of the song so I could sing properly.

As a side note, who the fuck does ietaiga to Yuukimi lmao. Grow up.

Closing MC

Another emotional moment. Furirin was in tears during her closing comments. She was crying like a baby, but still was able to walk up and thank every one of her fellow members personally. That meant a lot to me. I’ve always seen Furirin as one of the more detached members, as I never really knew if she was holding something back because she had to be “Ruby” rather than “Furihata Ai”. But this moment told me that just like everyone else, she’s really thankful to be a member of Aqours.

During Rikyako’s comments, she still had this sense of dissatisfaction in her words. At one point, she gave a big sigh. The others quickly joked it off, but I think she wasn’t quite pleased with how today went. As always with her, though, she’ll definitely rebound from this.

Final Thoughts

What a start to the final leg of the tour. It’s been a crazy few weeks for everyone involved, and this is definitely the best way to cap it all off. There were a few hiccups here and there, but overall, it was a great live, filled with both good performances and lots of emotion. Looking forward to tomorrow.

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araitsume · 7 years ago

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A Patreon gift for supporting @chillguydraws , featuring one of the fighters in the light novel/manga/anime "Juuni Taisen: Zodiac War" and my personal MVP, Sharyu a.k.a. Misaki Yuuki. She holds a special place in my heart for being such a optimistic contrast to my pessimistic outlook and representing my east Asian birth year (plus the story did her wrong).

#chillguydraws #art made for me #gift art #juuni taisen #sharyu #juuni taisen zodiac war

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natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk · 6 years ago

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Top Five Kouki Uchiyama Roles

Here’s a guy who voices a certain trope well but has not a whole lot of range. Yet, he makes it work for him. Unless the character is edgy, emo, evil, or an asshole, he usually either doesn’t take on the character or doesn’t do well with exceptions.

As usual, the ranking will be biased towards whether I like a character or a series or whether I watched it fully or not. Characters from shows that I haven’t seen will be mentioned in the paragraph below.

I’m a huge fan of him, so this time I’m going to keep the honourable mentions that I haven’t see here in the introduction. Here are the unseen honourable mentions: Meruem (Hunter x Hunter), Daryl Yan (Guilty Crown), Banagher Links (Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn), Makoto Tsukimoto (Ping Pong Animation), Natsuno Yuuki (Shiki), and Natsuki Usami (Tsuritama).

Honourable Mentions (That I’ve Seen Partially or Fully):

Yuu Otosaka (Charlotte)

Here’s the edgy type. He almost killed someone with a dango stick then got caught up in a forced romance. That’s probably why he’s so low on the honourable mentions list. He still made it up here though because Kouki managed to keep a straight face while acting in this clusterf--k of a series, he still did quite well performance-wise, and it wasn’t bad enough that I got SAO (second arc) flashbacks or something.

Yuu accurately portraying me on Ferris Wheels

The OVA is really better than the series in itself I think

Kei Tsukishima (Haikyuu!!)

(He looks like he’s doing a Yurio “HAAAA”)

Hey look, it’s an asshole. Okay, that’s a little harsh, but Tsukki isn’t exactly the guy I would call “nice”. Besides Ennoshita, Yamaguchi is really forgettable for me (having only watched around ten episodes) besides the fact that he was Tsukki’s follower. Seriously, there are compilations of Yamaguchi saying, “Tsukki!” Shout-out to Saito Souma for that though. But Kouki does a good job portraying the tall guy (he’s tall in real life too).

Yuuta Asaba (Kimi to Boku)

(I probably got the wrong twin, didn’t I?)

When they said identical twins, I didn’t realize that I would have such a hard time differentiating Ryouhei Kimura and Kouki Uchiyama. Their characters look and act the same for the most part. But still, episode seven just made this character bump up a lot because that was some cute stuff right there. That’s the good fluff. I appreciate that.

Yuri Plisetsky (Yuri On Ice)

(the gif with this scene makes it 10x better)

Yeah, it was almost a tie between number five and this, but I went with this. Yuri(o) is just an absolute asshole, but he’s still my favourite human character from Yuri on Ice (Makkachin is the real MVP, and you can’t convince me otherwise). This was probably only placed here because the next role had more range in emotion besides the “HAAAAAAAAA”, it had singing, and it was just a better anime overall. But don’t worry, you’ll still have all your “HAAAAAAAAA”s Yurio.

Top Five

5. Takumi Sakagami (Anthem of the Heart)

Have you ever wanted to watch a movie with a person who is cursed to never speak by an egg with a fairy tale musical involved? Well, do I have the movie for you! It’s a funny-sounding premise, but it works so well, and I can’t emphasize that enough. This movie was one heck of a rollercoaster of relatability and feelings. You might understand a little better after you’ve watched it. And would you look at that, this role isn’t edgy or emo. Shout-out to Hosoya for telling him about the movie!

Trailer for this great movie

The end performance (DON’T WATCH THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE ACTUAL MOVIE)

4. Akira Fudou (Devilman Crybaby)

Not going to lie, this placed a little low because I couldn’t finish Devilman. It was... too much. I’m sorry. I do know that it was a demanding role though. Too bad Kouki barely knew what he was in for. He thought he was going to end up as Ryo. No, that satanic gay disaster went to none other than Ayumu Murase or Hinata from Haikyuu. Basically, the innocent one is the crazy one here, and the edgy one is the naive devil here. Yeah... this show is wild for many reasons. But if you want to see a well-rounded character who is badass, powerful, vulnerable, naive, and emotional, look no further than Akira from Devilman Crybaby. It’s called Crybaby because this is what that character is essentially. I’m not going to include a clip for this anime because, if you didn’t know this already, this anime is not PG AT ALL.

3. Gin (Hotarubi no Mori e)

But this anime will make you the crybaby. Well, I can’t get too deep into this one. You really have to watch it for yourself. This role is one of the rarer cases where he doesn’t play someone who needs to be edgy, emo, or cool with an ego. He plays a vulnerable being that just wants to experience love. Along with the beautiful art and OST (not to mention the story), you really learn to appreciate the two leads in this one.

Here’s the trailer

You can watch these two leads in the anime that has the number two spot here coming up next. Ayane Sakura plays Ochako Uraraka, and Kouki plays...

2. Tomura Shigaraki (My Hero Academia)

(need a hand there buddy? ...I had to say it)

This character gets too much hate. I searched him up, and half of these things were like, “Why Tomura is a bad villain and a failure.” Guys, he’s trying his best. I know he “looks better in the manga” which is kind of true, but Kouki’s voice makes up for that. He brings such a creepiness to him that you almost feel that much more scared for Deku whenever he faces him. You can tell he has quite of bit of insecurities too, but he seems to be a human with a crumbling soul. I hope to see more of him in the future.

Deku and Tomura go shopping together? Kinda?

1. Soul Evans (Soul Eater)

Yeah, bias. I told you there was going to be some. But I stand by this choice 110%. Soul is cooler than most of us can even dream to be, and as someone who watched this anime subbed, I can say that I grew really attached to the Japanese cast. Sure, the English cast did a phenomenal job, but Chiaki and Kouki as Soul and Maka will forever be the voices behind one of my favourite OTPs. He portrays Soul really well, and it shows when he goes through the fight scenes, the comedic scenes, the struggles within his character, and his relationships with the other characters. I hope they did a remake in the future, and if they do, I hope the cast will come and reprise their roles. But if you want to watch Soul Eater subbed, the whole thing is on YouTube. It’s uploaded by Funimation (not sure if it’s available abroad). Be aware that it’s not in HD though.

BROTP moment between him and Black Star

The Test Episode (from the halfway point)

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